Eviction worries for Palestinians in new Libya as more refugees stream in from Syria http://bit.ly/Ov4HNF
7:24 PM - 30 Aug 12 · Details
Eviction worries for Palestinians in new Libya
29 August 2012
TRIPOLI (IPS) - Just before the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime one year ago, Huda and her Palestinian family were forcefully evicted from their Tripoli home.
“This was last August and there was a lot of violence. There was no government. My husband had suffered a heart attack and we were scared,” says Huda, an anxious middle-aged woman clad head to toe in black. She breaks into tears.
“We begged for more time to look for another place, but the owner’s children came and yelled bad words. We left our home with all its furniture. We were kicked out violently.”
The original homeowner had his properties confiscated by the government in 1978 under the far-reaching housing Law 4, which decrees only one residence allowed per family.
When the revolution erupted last year, Huda says the owner demanded some properties back, but felt assured when he instructed his children to “leave the Palestinian family alone.”
Originally from Akka in Palestine, Huda’s parents fled the violence in 1948 to southLebanon. Three decades later, Huda and her husband escaped from another brutal war. They went to Libya on Lebanese travel documents, finally finding a job, house and stability.
After shelling out nominal government rent for over three decades, Huda switched to paying the owner five times the amount. But when he died last year, his children came knocking to claim their inheritance.
Vulnerability of Palestinians in Libya
Since Libya’s revolution, property disputes have emerged as a primary threat to Libya’s national security. Although mostly relevant to Libyans, the crisis has hit the Palestinian refugee community hard. With more Palestinians arriving from Syria, it underscores the heightened vulnerability of their “guest” status in the face of future government legislation.
There are an estimated 45,000 to 70,000 Palestinians in Libya today. Statistics are hard to pin down especially after last year’s conflict, because many fled the country, are internally displaced or have irregular status.
A signatory to the 1965 Casablanca Protocol, which protects Palestinian rights in Arab states, Libya has generally welcomed Palestinian refugees from across the region, including Gaza and Lebanon. Many have provided skilled labor for Libya’s oil and gas industry, and received subsidized housing, free education and healthcare.
